


strategy

by TylahJayne



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Era, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 16:17:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11406021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TylahJayne/pseuds/TylahJayne
Summary: Jesse participates, but doesn’t contribute.





	strategy

Jesse always had a bad feeling about the recall. That feeling intensified the moment he stepped foot into the Watchpoint Gibraltar. The cheery faces of both past and new agents unsettled him. Jesse was here for one reason and one reason only. Where ever an Overwatch exists, a Blackwatch has to exist as well. They greet him like family, with hugs and smiles, and he returns them on instinct. The warm sense of family is something Jesse remembers, from before. It isn’t an unwelcome feeling.

He takes the younger recruits under his wing like he used to, like he did with an angry resentful Genji so many years ago. He teaches Hana, and Lucio all the tricks and tips his commander taught him when he was only a recruit. He talks with Pharah, like he used to, but they both know there’s things that they can’t afford to talk about. Jesse participates, but doesn’t contribute.

He stays silent during strategy meetings, instead taking up a silent mantle, and dissecting every single plan they manage to put together. He knows Genji is doing the exact same thing, as they were both Blackwatch, and they both had the same paranoid commander. Winston is good no doubt, but he isn’t good enough. He doesn’t take into account that their opponents won’t pay fair, that they’ll use any and every dirty tactic they can think of. The plans are clean, sure, but they’re overwatch standard, and for the missions they’re going to be running, overwatch standards not gonna cut it.

So he speaks up. “Y’all know this aint gonna cut it right? This isn’t no shiny clear cut mission like the old days. This is Blackwatch territory, this in infiltration, information gathering, and elimination. These shiny recycled Overwatch strategy’s aint gonna cut it. Talons using the Blackwatch handbook. Which means they gonna fight dirty, they gonna take the cheap shots and if they can they’ll slaughter the lot of us.”

The room is quiet, and he knows that none of the squeaky clean overwatch agents thought about it.

“Sadly, the cowman is right. These tactics will not work.” Surprisingly, Hanzo is the first to speak up.  This greatly amuses Jesse, as out of all the people who could have agreed with him, Hanzo is admittedly the most unexpected of them.

Now, Jesse knows he’s many things, but a danged fool aint one of them, so when 76 speaks up he knows exactly who’s really talking. “You can’t actually expect us to believe a word that comes from your mouth tactics wise do you McCree? Blackwatch was the whole reason Overwatch fell in the first place, because it was filled with criminals and murderers.” 76’s sneer amuses him, it’s been a while since he got the trademarked Jack Morrison sneer.

“But we both know your spittin nothin but lies there dear old commander? Aint chu the one who approved and stamped every single mission we gots send on? Wasn’t it chu who ignored Boss’ warnings month after month about the state of both Overwatch and Blackwatch? Yeah chu aint got no room to talk old man.”

Jesse sighs as the room goes quiet, and he knows he isn’t gonna get a single god damned thing done. So he picks himself up, gives the room a little wave and goes for a damned smoke. He can hear the room erupt into chaos as the door closes behind him, and chuckles to himself as everyone starts to process what he said.

He hopes that Morrison isn’t dumb enough not to notice that the Jesse McCree he knew is dead, and all that remains in his place is a cowboy who got fucked over far too many times by stupid things like ‘trust’ and ‘caring’.

Quietly he makes his way towards one of the many exits of the Watchpoint. The cold air is the blow to the face, he forgot just what time it is, with the air being mighty chilly on sunset. He quickly lights one up, and takes a draw. The burn of the smoke in his lungs is a sharp and demanding feeling, hold the smoke too long and you’ll cough, don’t hold it long enough and you’ve wasted good nicotine.

Jesse wonders just how many dead men are still walking, and isn’t comforted by the fact that, none of them are probably dead. Just how many empty coffins is he gonna have to dig back up, only to bury again once the recall claims them.

He really hopes he dies first.

It isn’t long before someone joins him, leaning on the rail, and it’s no surprise that it’s Genji. Being nearly Genji is weird for him, he isn’t the same person he knew back in Blackwatch, but he’s close enough that it fucks with his head.

They don’t talk, just stand there while Jesse takes the last drag of his smoke. He puts it out, and he knows that the next few weeks are going to be terrible, just like the first few weeks of Blackwatch were.

**Author's Note:**

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End file.
